EasyTemp combines data logging with power of graphing calculators

By eSchool News

February 6th, 2007

Vernier Software & Technology’s EasyTemp is a temperature sensor that plugs directly into the built-in USB port of a TI-84 Plus or TI-84 Plus Silver Edition graphing calculator from Texas Instruments. An application called Vernier EasyData now comes pre-loaded on TI’s newest graphing calculators, eliminating the need for an additional interface when collecting temperature readings: When you plug the EasyTemp sensor into the calculator, the EasyData program automatically launches, and you are ready to collect data. As students collect temperature readings with the EasyTemp probe, this information appears in a graph on the calculator in real time, allowing students to visualize the changes as they occur. EasyTemp, which sells for $38, continues Vernier’s focus on lower-cost USB solutions that can plug into a variety of computing devices running a myriad of platforms, giving science instructors a number of options and enabling them to use the technology with whatever platforms they might already be using in their classrooms, Vernier said.